Vehicle floor water flow management

ABSTRACT

A vehicle floor configured to direct water flow comprising a floor portion that extends front-to-back and side-to-side in the vehicle including a surface that faces the vehicle occupant. The floor portion surface includes one or a plurality of raised rib portions and one or a plurality of web regions in-between said raised rib portions, wherein the one or plurality of web regions provides a downwardly sloping floor surface that is configured to direct water to one or a plurality of desired locations.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a 371 of PCT/US19/60015 filed Nov. 6, 2019, whichclaims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application62/756,289 filed on Nov. 6, 2018, entitled Vehicle Floor Water FlowManagement, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD

The present invention stands directed at a vehicle floor design thatcontains and routes water and debris to one or more desired locationswithin the vehicle where it can be disposed to the outside.

BACKGROUND

Vehicles are typically driven under conditions where the interior of thevehicle, and particularly the floor, becomes wet and collects debris,including but not limited to mud, sand, dirt and in the winter, slush.Such debris then accumulates on the vehicle floor which can then re-soila driver's or passenger's shoes, create slippery conditions, and provideundesirable stains within the vehicle interior.

In response to the above, various floor tray design have been proposedthat rely upon ribs and raised treads which form channels. While water,mud and slush may then accumulate in the channels, they ultimately canoverflow to soil the vehicle flooring and soil the shoes of theoccupants. Furthermore, the use of floor tray designs ultimately requirethe consumer to remove the mat or tray to dispose of accumulatedwater/debris.

A need remains therefore for a vehicle floor design that successfullycontains and controls the movement of water and debris and which alsoallows one to direct the water/debris to one or more specific locationalong with the convenient removal of such debris to the vehicle exteriorso that it does not accumulate within the vehicle interior.

SUMMARY

In one general embodiment, the present invention provides a vehiclefloor configured to direct water flow comprising a floor portion thatextends front-to-back and side-to-side in said vehicle including asurface that faces the vehicle occupant. The floor portion surfaceincludes one or a plurality of raised rib portions and one or aplurality of web regions in-between the raised rib portions, wherein theone or plurality of web regions provides a downwardly sloping floorportion in the surface that is configured to direct water to one or aplurality of desired locations.

In another general embodiment, the present invention provides a vehiclefloor configured to direct water flow comprising a floor portion thatextends front-to-back and side-to-side in the vehicle including asurface that faces the vehicle occupant, wherein the surface that facesthe vehicle occupant provides a downward slope of up to 10° runningfront-to back in the vehicle and a downward slope of up to 10° runningside-to-side in the vehicle. One or a plurality of L-shaped protrusionsare present in the vehicle floor surface wherein the L-shapedprotrusions are comprised of two linear portions that intersect anddefine an angle of 75° to 115°. One or a plurality of web regions arepresent between the plurality of L-shaped protrusions wherein the webregions provide a downwardly sloping surface at an angle in the range of0.5° to 20.0°. The downwardly sloping floor surface runningfront-to-back in the vehicle and side-to-side in said vehicle, the oneor plurality of L-shaped protrusions, and the one or plurality of webregions between the plurality of L-shaped protrusions, are configured todirect water flow to one or a plurality of desired locations.

DESCRIPTION

The present invention is directed at a vehicle floor design that routeswater and debris to one or more specific locations in the floor fordisposal to the outside. Attention is directed to FIG. 1 whichillustrates one preferred embodiment of the present invention. Asillustrated, a portion of the vehicle floor 10 is one that includes aplurality of raised portions 12 and a plurality of sloping web portions14 in-between said raised portions 12. Preferably the raised portionsmay be in the form of ribs (an extended portion of relatively thickermaterial across the surface of the floor) and may have a thickness at16A in the range of 3 mm to 50 mm, a thickness at 16B in the range of 3mm to 50 mm. Thickness herein is reference to the height of the ribsfrom the surface of the floor. The ribs may also have a width showngenerally at 16C in the range of 3 mm to 250 mm and the sloping portions14 may have a width shown generally at 18 in the range of 5 mm to 200mm. The width of the ribs may also be different than the width of theslopes, so that one can provide a floor structure with such varyingdimensions to optimize water and debris disposal. In addition, the flooris one that will have one or more drainage holes or openings 20,preferably positioned at that section of the sloping portion where thewater would collect, which drainage hole is preferably plugged, andwhich the occupant of the vehicle may selectively open to provide forremoval of the water/debris mixture to the outside of the vehiclecompartment. Moreover, it is contemplated that the vehicle floor 10 mayinclude openings within the rib portions so that water/debris within onesloping portion may collect at one or more desired locations, asgenerally indicated at 22.

FIG. 2 illustrates another vehicle floor where, compared to FIG. 1, therib portions 12 and the sloping portions 14 are illustrated as having adifferent width. As noted, above, the ability to selective vary thewidth of either the rib portions and sloping portions allows one toprovide a floor where one can selectively collect different amounts ofwater/debris, depending upon a given vehicle structure and expectedpattern of use by the vehicle owner.

Attention is next directed to FIG. 3 which shows the vehicle floor andthe section A-A which view is illustrated in FIG. 4. As can now be seen,the slope, measured with reference to the top of the rib, is such thatit will preferably fall 0.5 mm to 20.0 mm for every 100 mm of length ofthe vehicle floor, running fore/aft in the vehicle. Accordingly, thearrow shown generally at 24 may have a value of 0.5 mm to 20.0 mm,thereby defining the slope that is then relied upon to channelwater/debris to a desired location.

Attention is now directed to FIG. 5, which shows the portion 10 of thevehicle floor containing the aforementioned raised portions and slopingportions. As illustrated the sloping portions provide that the waterflow would initially proceed generally left and right in the vehicle andthen upon exiting of the sloping portions, the vehicle floor itself caninclude one or more sloping portions to further direct the water flowgenerally aft in the vehicle towards the identified one or more drainholes.

Attention is next directed to FIG. 6. which illustrates anotherpreferred embodiment herein. As can be seen, the portion 10 of thevehicle floor may now include what may be described as a plurality of“L” shape rib protrusions 26. An expanded view of one of the “L” shapedprotrusions is illustrated in FIG. 7 where such protrusion is defined bytwo generally linear portions 28 and 30 where each preferably has alength in the range of 12.5 mm to 250 mm and a thickness (i.e. thedimension that protrudes from the surface of the floor) in the range of1.0 mm to 30 mm. These two generally linear portions 28 and 30 alsopreferably define an angle 32 of 75° to 115°, more preferably 85° to105°. Similarly, the flooring may contain a plurality of additionalprotrusions to direct water flow in a desired direction front to back inthe vehicle, of any geometry (e.g. straight or curved). As noted, thewater flow is preferably directed towards a drain hole or even aplurality of drain holes. Preferably, one may therefore utilizerelatively straight rib protrusions 34 that preferably have a length inthe range of 12.5 mm to 550 mm and a thickness (the dimension thatprotrudes from the surface of the floor) preferably in the range of 1.0mm to 30 mm. Also illustrated is a drain hole 36. As alluded to above,one may utilize a plurality of drain holes.

In addition, the portion of the vehicle floor 10 itself is configuredsuch that when running front to back in the vehicle, provides a slopingsurface facing the vehicle occupant which as illustrated by arrow 38,defines a slope of up to 10° to assist in directing residual water to adesired location, such as drain hole 36. Accordingly, the broad contextof the present disclosure, the vehicle floor, when running front to backin the vehicle, may provide a sloping surface of 0° to 10°, morepreferably 0.5° to 10°, and even more preferably 2° to 4°, or even 1° to2°.

In addition, the vehicle floor itself may include a side-to-side slopeas shown by arrows 40 and 42 of also up to 10° to again assist indirecting water to drain hole 36. Accordingly, in the broad context ofthe present disclosure, the vehicle floor, when running side to side inthe vehicle, may provide a slope of 0° to 10°, more preferably 0.5° to10°, and even more preferably 2° to 4°, or even 1° to 2°. In addition,although drain hole 36 as illustrated in FIG. 6 is not positioned at acenter location with respect to the horizontal axis of the portion ofvehicle floor 10, it should be appreciated that the drain hole may bepositioned anywhere along such horizontal axis to capture the flow ofresidual water.

In addition, it should be appreciated the boundary 42 of vehicle floorportion 10 may provide a border section that prevents any residual waterfrom flowing further back in the vehicle. Such border section maytherefore include a raised portion or even an upwardly angled wallportion to restrict such water flow.

Attention is now directed to the web regions between the plurality of“L” shape rib protrusions 26, identified by double arrows 44, 46, 48 and50. These web regions are configured to provide an additional slopingvehicle floor surface that faces the vehicle occupant, in the generaldirection of the arrows, where such web regions may provide a downwardlysloping floor at an angle in the range of 0.5° to 20° or 0.5° to 10°. Asmay be appreciated the web regions between the plurality of “L” shaperib protrusion 26 can therefore provide another directed pathway for theflow of any residual or accumulated water on the floor portion 10towards drain hole 36.

It should be appreciated that the above vehicle floor portion can beprovided in a standard vehicle at four general locations, including thedriver side location, right front seat passenger location, and two rearseat passenger locations.

Finally, it should be noted that the portion of the vehicle floorcontaining the raised portions and sloping portions may be integrallyformed with the floor and preferably constructed of a thermoplasticelastomer, thermoplastic olefin, polyethylene (e.g. low densitypolyethylene), and polyurethane type materials (thermoplastic orthermoset).

As may therefore be appreciated, the present invention is broadlydirected to a vehicle floor that includes a plurality of ribs andsloping wall portions to selectively channel water/debris to a desiredlocation in the vehicle where it can then be conveniently dischargedfrom the vehicle interior. The floor may therefore include one or aplurality of plugged openings that the vehicle occupant can open. Theopenings may also be selectively positioned at different locations onthe vehicle floor, via use of selectively placed openings in the ribsections that will allow for the water/debris to reach a particularlocation for removal.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle floor configured to direct water flowcomprising: a floor portion that extends front-to-back and side-to-sidein said vehicle including a surface that faces the vehicle occupant;said floor portion surface including one or a plurality of raised ribportions and one or a plurality of web regions in-between said raisedrib portions, wherein said one or plurality of said web regions providea downwardly sloping floor portion in said surface that is configured todirect water to one or a plurality of desired locations.
 2. The vehiclefloor of claim 1 wherein said floor portion surface that extendsfront-to-back and side-to-side in said vehicle provides a downwardlysloped surface front to back in said vehicle of up to 10°.
 3. Thevehicle floor of claim 1 wherein said floor portion surface that extendsfront-to-back and side-to-side in said vehicle provides a downwardlysloped surface front to back in said vehicle of 0.5° to 10°.
 4. Thevehicle floor of claim 1 wherein said floor portion surface that extendsfront-to-back and side-to-side in said vehicle provides a downwardlysloped surface front to back in said vehicle of 2° to 4°.
 5. The vehiclefloor of claim 1 wherein said floor portion surface that extendsfront-to-back and side-to-side in said vehicle provides a downwardlysloped surface front to back in said vehicle of 1° to 2°.
 6. The vehiclefloor of claim 1 wherein said one or plurality of desired locationsincludes one or a plurality of drain holes.
 7. The vehicle floor ofclaim 1 wherein said one or plurality of web regions provides adownwardly sloping floor portion surface at an angle in the range of0.5° to 20°.
 8. A vehicle floor configured to direct water flowcomprising: a floor portion that extends front-to-back and side-to-sidein the vehicle including a surface that faces the vehicle occupant,wherein said surface that faces the vehicle occupant provides a downwardslope of up to 10° running front-to back in the vehicle and a downwardslope of up to 10° running side-to-side in said vehicle; one or aplurality of L-shaped protrusions in said vehicle floor surface whereinsaid L-shaped protrusions are comprised of two linear portions thatintersect and define an angle of 75° to 115°; one or a plurality of webregions between said plurality of L-shaped protrusions wherein said webregions provide a downwardly sloping surface at an angle in the range of0.5° to 20.0°; wherein said downwardly sloping floor surface runningfront-to-back in said vehicle and side-to-side in said vehicle, said oneor plurality of L-shaped protrusions, said one or plurality of webregions between said plurality of L-shaped protrusions, are configuredto direct water flow to one or a plurality of desired locations.
 9. Thevehicle floor of claim 8 wherein said surface that faces the vehicleoccupant provides a downward slope of 0.5° to 10° running front-to backin the vehicle and a downward slope of 0.5° to 10° running side-to-sidein said vehicle.
 10. The vehicle floor of claim 8 wherein said surfacethat faces the vehicle occupant provides a downward slope of 2° to 4°running front-to back in the vehicle and a downward slope of 2° to 4°running side-to-side in said vehicle.
 11. The vehicle floor of claim 8wherein said surface that faces the vehicle occupant provides a downwardslope of 1° to 2° running front-to back in the vehicle and a downwardslope of 1° to 2° running side-to-side in said vehicle.
 12. The vehiclefloor of claim 8 wherein said one or plurality of desired locationsincludes one or a plurality of drain holes.
 13. The vehicle floor ofclaim 8 wherein said one or plurality of web regions provides adownwardly sloping surface at an angle in the range of 0.5° to 10°. 14.The vehicle floor of claim 8 wherein said one or plurality of L-shapedprotrusions protrude from said surface of the floor in the range of 1.0mm to 30 mm.